[Quark (Trevor)]

Originally Posted by robz

Well, I don't know what all the fuss is about?
I have just spray painted my collapsable captain's spyglass in aluminium paint and use it while wrapped in two sports ice packs for cooling and the results are outstanding!
Even water cooled my Telrad!


Seriously though Trevor, that is one hell of a scope!..............more like something from NASA.

Congratulations!....... and I hope you don't loose too much sleep waiting for Mark's super mirror.

Regards
Rob.

Thanks Rob, never thought of water cooling the Telrad, pretty radical idea . The longer Mark takes to finish my mirror the more I think about just how good it will be. It will be ready when its really ready.

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

Beautiful work Trev, really stunning. I cant wait to see what you are going to turn out with the new mirror. I can imagine you are very excited. But are you sure there isn't something wrong. That tiny tiny tiny camera attached to the filterwheel couldn't possibly be turning out the great image you are achieving now. It is amazing how small they are making those things these days. How long before it going to be just a chip and an adapter and a lead??? wow

Thanks Paul, yep, pretty amazing just how small the Flea3 is and its sensitivity & frame rates are pretty incredible.

Originally Posted by icytailmark

some day i hope i can have a telescope that big in a dome. Fantastic work trevor you really know your stuff.

Thanks very much Mark, it helps a lot having an engineering background from my work on the mines. I think if you set your mind to it there is always a way to achieve what you want, good luck with it.

Originally Posted by Afro Boy

Watching this thread with interest. Wonderful work so far Trevor.

Thanks Carl, the next stage of development will occur when my new primary is finished.

Originally Posted by AstroGuy

Hi Trevor,

Wow!

That's a very impressive piece or work. I'm also dying to see what images that beast will capture.

You are truly a Master Astro Craftsman!

Thanks very much Eugenio, it has worked out quite well so far being able to use FRED with the new secondary and old primary to sort out things such as the fine adjustment system that I designed to adjust the secondary. I have now had several months experience imaging with this new aluminium tube and have become quite familiar with its thermal characteristics and have been able to fine tune the running time of my Peltier cooler and the current that works best.

Originally Posted by cfranks

A really fine piece of work. What is the overall weight of the 'scope?

Charles

Thanks very much Charles, I have not weighed the new tube but it is very easy to handle and is very much lighter than the heavy cardboard tube it replaces. I easily managed to carry the aluminium tube down to my shed to work on but needed help from my son to bring the old cardboard tube down from my observatory. Meade list the weight of the optical tube as being 100 lbs. As I mentioned in my writeup at the start of this thread, I have been able to do away with a 10 kg counterweight so the aluminium tube assembly with mirrors installed is at least 20 kg lighter than previously.